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Effective Team Chartering - Scrum Gathering Orlando March 2010

How to kick start Scrum team formation by helping teams to create powerful charters.
Presented at the March 2010 Scrum Gathering in Orlando by
Jens Korte (Syndato GmbH) and Simon Roberts (ScrumCenter GmbH), http://scrumcenter.com

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Effective Team CharteringWhat is aTeam Charter?Project Chartervs.Team CharterOwner?Self- OrganizingTeamShow me how a project starts and I'll tell you how it ends!Anti-PatternsManagementComes from CoachToo DetailedIntegrate organizational needsMultiple Teams?MeetingsPlanning &EstimationDaily ScrumSprint planning meetingSprint reviewRetrospectiveRequirements workshopEstimation meetingTechnology &Engineering RulesTeam Norms &Communication RulesSprintReviewimplementedtestedintegratedPlanningDoneReady:understoodestimatedsmallacceptance criteria definedprioritisedIs aTeam Charter Important for Self OrganizationReadyNot Enough TimeDictated bySprint review: Wednesday 2:00 pmDaily Scrum: 9:30 am, conf. room 2Retrospective: Wednesday 4:00 pmSprint planning: Thursday 10:00 amPenalty for being late:3 times in a sprint: bring a homemade cake to retrospective.Bi-weekly:User Stories in Story PointsTasks in 1/4 daysEstimationTasks not larger than 2 daysNew Code:Write JUnit before codeWrite code until test succeedsRefactor codeTDDWrite test to reproduce bugFix the codeRefactor codeBug detected:Acceptance Tests in Selenium and FitNesseRespectful conversationActive listeningExpecations of PO:Rulesregular presence at Daily Scrumchance for interaction with team directly aftertimely feedbacktimely response to questionsIn classical project management often a project charter or project definition is used to define the project goal, the scope and the definition of success. Normally it is predefined from upper management.The team writes, takes responsibility for and owns their charter. ScrumMaster and Product Owner give input.

For a particular organization, there might be mandatory entries such as:TechnologyGovernance compliance requirementsCMMI requirementsA group of people or animals linked in a common purpose.One precondition for self organization is a clearly defined system boundary. A Team Charter helps to define these boundaries.

The system is not just the team - the (generative) rules also define the system.

By spending time helping the team to define its own rules (which are added to those that we import as part of Scrum), we can make the system boundary clear.BasicAgreements35. There shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure of ale and one measure of corn--namely, the London quart;--and onewidth of dyed and russet and hauberk cloths--namely, two ells below the selvage. And with weights, moreover, it shall be as with measures.Magna Carta 121513. The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy all their liberties and free customs.Magna Carta 121523. Neither a town nor a man shall be forced to make bridges over the rivers, with the exception of those who, from of old and of right ought to do it.Magna Carta 1215Creating a Team Charter"Self-organization is the tendency of an open system to generate new structures and patterns based on its own internal dynamics. Organization design is not imposed from above or outside; it emerges from the interactions of the agents in the system."Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity Science (Edwin E. Olson and Glenda H. Eoyang)Three factors influence the patterns that emerge:

The container sets the bounds for the self-organizing system. It defines the "self" that organizes.Significant differences determine the primary patterns that emerge (power, level of expertise, gender, ...).Transforming exchanges form the connections between system agents."Just as a person needs time and space to incubate thoughts before a new Idea can emerge, a system needs a bounded space for the emergence of new patterns."By helping a team to create a charter we can clearly define the container inside which self-organization can take place.RetrospectiveCodedUnit testedReviewedDocumented (JavaDoc)Checked inIntegrated...TaskDuring each sprint:Requirements workshopEstimation meetingTime for researchReadyAcceptance criteria fulfilled (automated test)User documentation updatedIntegrated (automated acceptance test runs in Hudson)Accepted by PO...StoryAll story tests OKInstallation scripts updatedDeployed in system integration environmentRelease note updatedRegression test OKPerformance test OK...IncrementPlanning PokerBenefitsSourcesThe journey is as important as the destination!Facilitated BrainstormingTeam decidesCommunication rulesTeam normsEngineering rulesTechnologyMeetingsPlanning & estimationDefinition of doneReadyDedicated workshop before first sprintDot votingIn Scrum this is typically covered by the product vision.Team doesn't internalize the charter because they don't own it.Self-organization damaged potentiallyAt a recent coaching engagement we saw this in action. The development manager distributed a detailed description of done to all team members (2 Scrum teams). During the team-chartering exercise, we facilitated the teams in building their definition of done. They agreed on and tookover all of the points raised by the development manager. At the end of the first sprint, it was clear that the teams had not really been following the definition of done. This was a major topic discussed in the retrospective."... organizing a self-organizing system is not only an oxymoron, it will very likely throw a spanner in the works."Harrison OwenWave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self-Organizing World“Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex, intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple, stupid behavior.”Dee Hock, founder of VISA"company culture - not rulez""Lean DoD"team members during coachingUncovers unclear expectations and ambiguous goalsCommon understanding of workFunctional communication inside and outside the teamHelps team formingDefines a container, so that self-organization can emergeHarrison Owen, Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self-Organizing WorldEdwin E. Olson and Glenda H. Eoyang,Facilitating Organization Change: Lessons from Complexity ScienceA modern English translation of the Magna Carta of 1215:http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/magna2.htmlSimon Roberts simon.roberts@scrumcenter.comJens Kortejens.korte@syndato.comAn agreement between the PO and team about what ready means and how to get to ready before each sprint - perhaps institutionalized by a requirements workshop and estimation meeting during each sprint as part of the up to 10% of the sprint capacity that Scrum allows for product backlog grooming. Post-estimation meeting research is also important - the team needs to have time between prioritised backlog being published and sprint planning to increase their understanding of the backlog items that will be candidates for the next sprint.